Footprints

The Kiddos

2012-02-17T13:24:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, Ben and I worked on his Tangram Puzzles (I did some of the harder ones & they definitely challenged me). He got them from his Grandma and Pop the last time they visited. I love games/puzzles that challenge his brain. We said we were exercising our brains. :) He did a pretty good job of trying to figure out where to put the pieces. Sometimes he gets frustrated when he can't figure something out quickly, but this day he worked on several puzzles and never got upset.

This little girl is growing up so fast. I'm excited to do more things with her as she gets older, but I really want to enjoy this newborn stage too. She only got up once last night. I love nights like that...I feel so rested today. I'm sure that won't happen all the time, but it's nice to catch up on some sleep!

A Mario Weekend

2012-02-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

If you've spoken to Ben any time in the last couple months, then you know of his love for all things Mario. Because of this great love, we decided to give Ben the new Super Mario Brothers Wii game for Valentine's Day. We surprised him with it this weekend since it would give him some more time to play it with Curt. The game allows for more than one player, so they can play it together. I still haven't caught the Mario bug, but I'm sure Ben will get me involved with the game eventually. :)

Doesn't this girl have the cutest smile? She is so sweet. Notice how Ben thinks that Lucy appreciates Mario stuff too and let her borrow Luigi.

Ben showing off the new game.

Change

2012-02-11T17:13:00.001-05:00

Change is sometimes hard for me...especially big changes. This weekend we made one of those big changes. We bought a minivan! It is new and has lots of really great features, but there is still a part of me that misses my Jeep. I drove it for 6+ years and it will take a while to get used to the new van. The Jeep was starting to have some problems and we didn't want to invest more $ into it, so the time came to start looking for something else. Friday, Curt was able to find exactly what we were looking for, at a good price. He brought it home to show it to me and I thought it was perfect. I think it will be great for our long drives up to Michigan to visit our families.

I just drove it for the first time. It drives very smoothly, but has a much different feel than the Jeep. It also takes up much more room in the garage. I'm sure I'll get used to it after a couple weeks, but for now it still makes me feel a bit nervous to get behind the wheel. Ben loves the dvd player and wireless headphones. We let him try them out on our drive. He said that it is the best vehicle ever! I'm sure I'll feel the same way after I learn how to use all of the features. :)

Goodbye Jeep...we'll miss you!

Hello van...we're looking forward to many good years ahead. (It is a 2012 Chrysler Town & Country)

Ben wants YOU to come for a ride!

Visitors

2012-02-07T18:49:00.000-05:00

On Monday, my mom and brother Joe came for a quick visit. They arrived around noon and left after dinner. Joe had not met Lucy yet, so it was really nice of him to make the 2.5 hr drive to come see her. Ben was excited to see Grandma and Uncle Joe for the afternoon. We had a great time together!

Lucy has grown so much the last few days. I already had to pack away her newborn clothes! She has so many 3 month outfits to wear. I hope that she will get to wear everything before she has another growth spurt.

Lucy snuggling with Uncle Joe.

Grandma needed some Lucy time too!

Don't worry...these are friendly pirates. :)

Lazy Sunday

2012-02-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

Ben and Lucy hanging out this morning. I had to get a picture of Lucy rockin' the hood on her outfit. I ended up changing her clothes later because that same hood seemed to be making her crazy. Ben has really been into Mario lately. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi seem to go everywhere with him. He loves to play "Mario" with his stuffed pals, which usually means acting out parts of Super Mario Sunshine.

Big yawn!

Lounging around on the floor. Sometimes she just needs to stretch.

I love those little smiles. :)

Hanging Out

2012-02-02T18:37:00.000-05:00

Ben loves talking to Lucy. He was telling her about his favorite cars. It was so cute how she stared at him while he was talking.

She likes to have her fists ready. :)

Looking at her big bro.

Catching Up

2012-01-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

Life has been busy around here! We are getting used to being a family of four and learning to deal with not as much sleep as we would like. Lucy will be 4 weeks old on Wednesday. I can't believe how quickly those weeks have flown by. We've had lots of visits from family and friends who traveled from out of town. It's been nice to share Lucy with everyone without having to pack up and head somewhere. I haven't done a great job taking pictures, but I'll try to get better at getting the camera out every day. The following pictures are from the last couple weeks...sadly I didn't even get pictures of all of our visitors. At least we had a good time together, even if I don't have the pictures to prove it! :)

Lucy has really enjoyed using the swing. She loves to take little naps in it during the day. Ben thought they should have a picture together.

My sister and her family came for a visit a couple weeks ago. They came during her long afternoon naptime. My sister tried really hard to get her to wake up. They need to come in the evening because that is her party time. :)

Emma taking a turn with Lucy.

Molly and Lucy

Mya and Lucy

Ben loves to show things to Lucy. One morning he got out a rattle and bear to share with her.

This past weekend, the Bairds came for a visit. The boys had a fun time playing together. On Saturday I found them in the guest room taking turns playing with Jackson and Luke's DS's.

Before bed they all had to say goodnight to Lucy.

My friend Glenda made Lucy some really cute headbands. She tried one out this weekend and I think she looks adorable.

Newborn Photo Shoot

2012-01-25T15:44:00.000-05:00

A few days after Lucy was born, my sister-in-law Betsy & family came for a visit. Betsy has a photography business and takes wonderful pictures. She worked hard both days that they were with us to take some newborn pictures. I am thrilled with how they turned out! There are so many great shots. I shared a few pictures of all the cuteness below. :)

Brother & Sister

2012-01-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

Ben loves his little sister and has been so sweet with her. Sometimes he'll walk by her sitting in her bouncy seat and he'll gently rub her head. Other times I've heard him talking to her saying, "Hi! I'm your big brother." It is so precious and warms my heart. Tonight he asked if he could please hold Lucy. He has been a bit nervous about this before and hasn't really asked about it. He held her several times before bed and seemed very comfortable. I look forward to watching their sibling relationship develop! :)

Talking to his little sis. (He likes to sleep with ALL of his stuffed animals!)

A little smile for the camera. :) Such a nice big brother.

Cousins

2012-01-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

Ben had so much fun hanging out with his cousins Jacob, Jenna, and Peyton for a couple days this week. The weather was so nice that they were even able to run around outside. Thanks for coming and we can't wait to visit with you again soon! :)

First Bath

2012-01-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

Lucy's cord finally fell off yesterday, so she was able to have her first bath last night. She didn't cry at all and seemed to like the warm water.

Getting washed up and enjoying her bath.

Fresh and clean!

Introducing...Lucy Charlotte Walker

2012-01-10T14:34:00.000-05:00

Lucy was born on Wednesday, January 4th, at 3:51 pm. She weighed in at 8 lbs and was 21 inches long. After anticipating her arrival for the last few weeks, we were so happy that the day was finally here. Labor went much quicker than we thought (since it took much longer with Ben) and I was even able to eat dinner that night. She is such a sweet girl and we are so excited to have her as part of our family.

Curt snapped a picture of me when it was almost "go time." I'm sure you can tell I had an epidural. :)

Meeting Lucy for the first time.

Curt's turn to hold her.

So happy to hold her in my arms!

Curt's parents headed right down to meet Lucy and help us take care of Ben.

Ben got to spend the day/night with my friend Bekah and her family. He had so much fun with his friends. Bekah brought Ben to the hospital on Thursday morning and he got to see Lucy for the first time. In the picture they are checking out her toes.

A smooch for his little sister.

I love that cute face! :)

This is a picture from Friday, close to when I was going to get to leave the hospital. I really wanted to check-out in the morning, but we had to wait for Lucy to have a 48 hour test. It felt like I had been there forever and I was so happy to head home.

A little daddy/daughter bonding time.

Time to get the bands removed and go home!

Someone was not as happy as me to head home. I think maybe wearing a huge hat had something to do with it.

Relaxing at home.

Ben wanted a picture in this pose. He's looking pretty cool!

My mom got to come and meet Lucy on her birthday (Jan 7th). We celebrated together with some Carlos O'Kelly's and yummy chocolate cake.

Lucy and Gramps

Ben holding Lucy for the first time. He was really nervous about it, but did a great job holding still.

Grandma, Gramps, Ben, and Lucy

Enjoying December

2011-12-27T16:09:00.000-05:00

I'm glad we had time to make sugar cookies together. Christmastime does not seem complete without them. I frosted the cookies while Ben and Curt decorated.

Lots of sprinkles and chocolate chips!

Ben loved getting slippers and a robe with his "Christmas Eve" jammies. He does love to be cozy. We decided to move up our present opening a day early because we thought I might end up in the hospital on Christmas. But, today is the 27th and still no baby. So we were a bit off on that one.

Santa brought the Lewis Hamilton car that Ben had asked him for. He was very excited!

The new pirate ship has been a favorite. He has played with it a TON a last few days.

Ben also got a few more pirate dress-up things. I've heard "Aarg!" a lot lately. :)

My parents came yesterday for a visit since my dad has this week off of work. We're hoping that I'll have the baby while they are here, but I'm not sure that is going to happen since they head home tomorrow. Ben was very excited to get a new bike from them for Christmas. Yesterday, the weather was pretty nice, so he was able to try it outside. He still needs to figure out the pedals better, but it was a good first try.

Ben thought that he and Gramps needed to be pirates. Be forewarned that if you come visit, you might have to be a pirate too!

Pirate Ben

This morning we woke up to a little bit of snow. Curt took Ben out this afternoon to build a snowman.

I was surprised that they were able to make that big of a snowman because there really isn't that much snow out there.

We are enjoying hanging out with my parents right now and hope that our little girl would like to arrive sometime soon! We are all excited to meet her!

Meeting Santa

2011-12-21T21:36:00.000-05:00

We went to the family VB party at the Lutheran Ice Center this past weekend. They had the Christmas party there last year and we had a lot of fun going back again. I had to skip out on the ice skating (with being pregnant and all), but I enjoyed watching Ben and Curt out on the ice. There were also several inflatables for the kids to climb on. Ben had no fear at all this year and went wild on them!

Ben also got to meet Santa. He was really looking forward to telling Santa that he wanted the Lewis Hamilton car from Cars 2. If you have seen that movie and have NO IDEA who that character is, that's because it is only in a few minutes of the movie. It's a pretty cool black race car and I'm glad that Santa (Curt) was able to find one at the store.

We're still waiting to see when the baby will be born. I'd rather not spend Christmas in the hospital. That is looking more and more like a possibility. Ben and Curt have picked tomorrow as the day. So, maybe we'll have a baby announcement soon. But, I wouldn't hold your breath. :)

The Green Lantern King

2011-12-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

(aka...Ben)

Better Late Than Never

2011-12-03T14:59:00.000-05:00

I have been really slow with updating my blog lately. I fear that it will only get worse after I have a newborn in the house. :) I still have a few things that I would really like to get done before the baby arrives, so hopefully she doesn't decide to come too early (although a little early would be nice).

Curt got me a new camera for my birthday. I still need to learn to work everything on it, but I am excited to have such a nice one before the baby is born. I took it with when we visited our families for Thanksgiving, but I completely forgot to get it out the whole time we were with Curt's family. I really need to do better with documenting our visits.

Here are a some pictures from the last few weeks. (I promise Ben has more shirts than his Detroit Lions jersey, but it is a favorite). :)

Curt and Ben love to play video games together. Sometimes when Ben wants to "play" with daddy, he really just wants to sit and watch Curt beat the levels.

After playing a while together, Curt told Ben they should take a break. Ben thought that his stuffed animals needed a chance to play. He sat them by the tv and gave them the controller.

He was very excited to have his picture taken, can you tell?

Ben with Grandma and Gramps on Thanksgiving.

Working on some wrestling moves with Uncle Joe.

Me, Ben, and my brothers Joe, Matt, and Jake. My sister Jessica hadn't arrived yet and, of course, I never got the camera out again after these pictures.

Matt and Ben showing off their matching Detroit Lions jerseys. Too bad they weren't able to pull off a Thanksgiving day win.

Who's having fun in the bathtub?

2011-11-17T21:39:00.000-05:00

Ben...that's who!!!

The Nursery

2011-11-11T14:38:00.001-05:00

Some people (my mom :) ) have been wanting to see pictures of the nursery. We finally have the main things done in there. I have a few little things I would like to add here and there, but for the most part it is done. I did take some before and after painting pictures and I can't seem to find them anywhere. The room used to have pink walls. I felt like that was too much pink for me, so we changed it to a turquoise blue color. The main colors are blue, pink, and chocolate brown.

This is a view from the hallway.

We added the name to the wall last night. I guess there is no changing our minds now! :)

This is the other side of the room. Curt spray painted the chair brown and I love it so much more. I just wish I was a seamstress and could make some cute slipcovers. Oh well. I am on the lookout for a throw blanket to add to that.

I am not really finished decorating the shelf, but this is what I put up there so far. The picture was drawn by my niece Jenna and I thought it looked perfect up there with the colors we picked out.

I found plans to make easy forward facing shelves on Pinterest and Curt built these for the room last weekend. I love being able to see all of the books! Ben wasn't too sure about putting some of his old books in the baby's room, but he finally gave in. :)

Catching Up

2011-11-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

My camera hasn't been working very well lately, so I've been taking more pictures on my phone. The problem is that they sit on my phone and I don't load them onto the computer. I finally decided to catch up with some of our more recent events that were captured on my iphone.

On a different note, we've gotten quite a bit done in the nursery this past weekend, so I'll load some pictures of how that turned out pretty soon. There are a few more things that I would like to finish up with first. It feels good to be almost done with it! :)

When we visited my family in Grand Rapids, Grandma and Gramps took Ben to Build-A-Bear when we were out at the mall. He made a camouflage bear that he named Ben.

We were able to visit our friends, the Bairds, during our GR trip. Rachel made us a yummy dinner and had cupcakes for the kiddos to decorate. Ben did not need to be asked twice if he wanted to make a cupcake!

On the Friday before Halloween, we stopped in at Curt's work for Ben to do a little trick-or-treating. The employees always have a fun time coming up with a costume plan among their groups. Ben loves seeing everyone dressed up in their costumes. This year, Curt was part of an "Around the World" group and his section had the country of France. We found him a funny chef costume to wear. Ben decided to be an astronaut this year and I just went as a large pregnant lady. :)

We had fun decorating the house with Cars 2 stuff for Ben's birthday. This was one of our dining room walls.

He was happy to get a new game for his Leap Pad. He got the Leap Pad a week earlier from Grandma and Gramps and has already gone through a TON of batteries. He loves that thing!

The batcave...he tells pretty much everyone he sees that he got a batcave for his birthday.

On his birthday we took Ben for his first trip to Chuck E. Cheese. We went in the morning and it wasn't busy at all. He had a fun time trying out all the rides and games.

At one point, he heard music across the room and ran over to see what was going on. He stood mesmerized by Chuck E. Cheese singing.

Having an air hockey battle with Curt.

A little hug for Chuck E. Cheese.

Birthday Party

2011-10-25T18:41:00.000-04:00

We spent this past weekend in Grand Rapids with my family. During our visit we celebrated Ben's 4th birthday. He asked for a Cars 2 theme for the party. We had fun visiting with my parents, my sister's family, my brothers, and my Grandma Bierema. For food, we had platters of Subway sandwiches, White Chicken Chili, apples & caramel, chips, and finger jello. Those are some of Ben's favorite foods to eat and he ate up every last bite on his plate!

Ben sitting with his birthday cake.

I found some little cars to use as an easy cake topper and made a little banner on the computer.

Some of the party decorations.

Ben and his cousins opening up their goody bags.

Ben received a Detroit Lions jersey from Uncle Joe and Uncle Matt.

He was very excited to get a LeapPad from my parents. He has been playing with it a lot since this weekend. The nice part for me...he hasn't asked to play games on my iphone at all! :)

Weekend in Cadillac

2011-10-17T11:07:00.000-04:00

We spent this past weekend in Cadillac with Curt's family. We went up a day early to have my sister-in-law, Betsy, take some family pictures. It was cold and raining on and off on Friday, but we gave the pictures a shot and she was able to get some cute ones.

The weekend kinda went downhill from there because Ben started a fever that afternoon. It wasn't really high (around 101), so we gave him some medicine and he seemed to be doing okay. Saturday he was okay in the morning when he opened his birthday presents, but by the evening he was really hot. The fever got up to 103.8 at one point! We called Ben's pediatrician's office to get some advice. They said there is a fever virus going around that is lasting 3-5 days with temps up to 104. She said to keep doing what we were doing, so that was reassuring. Thankfully his fever did not get that high again on Sunday. He's still sick today, so we're watching Rio for the hundredth time. :) Hopefully he will be fever free tomorrow!

I took a sample picture from Betsy's blog. :)

Opening some of his birthday presents.

Playing with his new Batman car.

Enjoying the Weather

2011-10-09T20:01:00.001-04:00

This past week has had wonderful weather. It's been so nice to have lots of sunny days in a row after so much rain. Ben and I took our last trip to the zoo on Thursday. Today was the last day that it was open for the regular season. They do have weekends open for their special Halloween stuff, but I don't think we'll make it out for that. It will be a long wait for it to open again in April!

This month is so busy. The calendar is filled with stuff everyday. I'm afraid it will go by so quickly and November will be here before we know it. We also have trips planned to visit each side of the family and Ben's 4th birthday on the 30th. Somehow I don't think November will slow down much either with getting things ready for the baby and Christmas.

On Friday, we were able to meet some friends at Leo park. Ben had fun running around with his buddy Austin. He must have gotten worn out because after we came home and ate lunch he asked, "Is it almost my rest time? Because I'm really tired." He still takes naps most days, but I don't remember him asking to take one. I think I should have him run around the park more often! :)

Watching the sea lions at the zoo.

Giving in to my request to pose by a pumpkin.

Feeding the ducks has become one of his favorite things at the zoo.

Climbing at the park.

Making loud noises on the music toy.

Belly Pics

2011-09-25T14:23:00.000-04:00

It seems like there is so much to do before our little girl arrives sometime around January 5th! We have been working on her room this weekend. When we moved into this house in April, the room was already a pink color with a pink fan/light fixture. It was a little bit too pink for me (and there were lots of nail holes that needed filling anyway), so we decided to change it to a blue color. It is kind of an aqua/turquoise shade of blue. It goes along with her bedding that has that color and pink and white. I'll show some pictures of the nursery after we get a bit more done. We should have the crib and dresser in there by the end of today. Then, I'll have to get to work on all of the other details.

I've been really bad about taking any belly shots of this pregnancy. I'm 25 weeks right now, so I thought I better get one taken this weekend before I forgot to take any at all. I'm feeling huge already and I'm sure I'll get much larger by the end! I've felt a lot more tired and yucky this pregnancy, than I did when I was pregnant with Ben. Every time I think I am past all that I will have another day of not feeling well. But, I am so thankful to be pregnant. It is such a blessing and answer to prayer for us. I'll just get through it, one day at a time. :)

25 weeks

Ben wanted to pose with mommy.

A Long Week

2011-09-16T09:22:00.000-04:00

Curt has been out of town this week. He gets home tonight. Yay!!! Since he rarely travels it has felt like a very long time to have him gone. Skype and texting definitely helped me get through the week. Ben and I have stayed really busy every day this week, which is probably why we are hanging out at home today (still in our pajamas). It will be nice to be back to our normal routine tomorrow. :)

Yesterday, we spent a few hours at the zoo. It was a beautiful sunny day, but a little on the chilly side. I think it was in the 50's the whole time we were there. It wasn't busy at all. I love when we can just take our time and not have people crowding behind us, pressuring us to move through an area quickly. I took some pictures, but I'm sure you've seen Ben a similar pose many times, so I won't bore you with captions.

Ponds and Chalkboards

2011-09-08T16:36:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple weeks, Ben and I have been working on a unit about ponds. I wanted to continue doing some different "school" things with Ben this year, like I did last year with choosing a letter for each week. I found a really great website that has theme units (with printables) already put together. It is 1+1+1=1 and I used one of the "preschool packs." We did lots more things than I took pictures of, like writing activities and games, but the pics give you an idea of what we've been up to. I added some crafts and snacks to make it a little more fun. Up next...a Cars theme. I'm sure Ben will be pumped about that one!

I hung a few of the activities on Ben's art wire. I think the turtle he made is especially cute.

I made fish, dragonfly, and turtle finger jello.

For one of the art projects, I cut out a turtle and fish shape for Ben. Then I used contact paper over one side to make a sticky surface. He placed pieces of felt on the sticky part and when he was done with his design I covered that side with a little more contact paper.

Cool window suncatchers!

One of the afternoons, I made frogs with Oreos, pretzels, M&M's, and frosting. Not a healthy treat, but certainly delicious! :)

Eating up his frogs.

This past weekend, Curt and I got another project that I've been wanting done underway. There was an empty space in the basement that I thought would be great for a chalkboard. So, after a trip to Home Depot on Saturday, we taped off an area and put on a couple layers of chalkboard paint. Then, Curt cut and painted the trim. After everything was dry, Curt put up the trim. I want to add a couple of metal buckets for the chalk and erasers, but I haven't found exactly what I'm looking for yet. For now we just have that stuff in a plastic container in the closet.

The complete chalkboard. Ben really wanted the trim to be red. We picked out a "Colonial" red so that it wasn't super bright and I am really pleased with the results. The chalkboard paint said to wait three days before using chalk on it. Then I had to rub chalk all over it and erase before using it the first time.

Today was the first day Ben got to try out the chalkboard. He is busy drawing a race car. :)

Oh, the Places We Go...

2011-08-29T19:05:00.000-04:00

Over the last few days, we've visited some fun places in Fort Wayne. It's been wonderful to spend time with friends and family along with enjoying the beautiful weather.

Last week Thursday, we went back to the splash park at Kreager Park. It is such a fun place! Ben and I met my friends Bekah (Isaiah & Amarah) and Erin (Will & Lauren). The kids had a great morning running around. Ben used up so much energy that he was really ready for a nap when we got home.

Ben and Isaiah

Having fun in the water.

Ben and Isaiah love this musical game that lights up.

The teeter-totter was a favorite again.

The kids had to gather around to see Lauren get her toes wet.

This past weekend, Curt's sister Betsy and husband Mark came to visit. Ben was so excited to play with his cousins Jacob, Jenna, and Peyton for the whole weekend! I was really bad about taking pictures. I brought the camera to Buckner Park on Saturday morning, but didn't really get the best pictures. Oh well...we had a great time visiting together and that is the most important part. :)

The older kids section was roped off with caution tape when we arrived. That is really the only place for the kids to play, so after inspecting it we decided to be rule breakers and let the kids have their fun. It looked like there had been some repairs to the soft padded ground the equipment was on. It seemed to be completely dry, so I'm not sure why they had to have tape up on a weekend.

A far away shot of Peyton, Jenna, Ben, and Jacob playing in the water.

This morning, I took Ben to the zoo for the last $1 rides Monday. The weather was perfect. The zoo wasn't too crowded at all, which always makes me happy. We had a great time spending a few hours there this morning.

Trying to reach the pedals while he was "driving".

He ran to the eggs and said, "Take a picture of me mom!"

Today he rode one of the bigger horses. He has only ridden on the smaller ponies before and I thought he might be scared. I was wrong. He was thrilled and loved every minute of it.

The horse's name was Chief. He was walking pretty fast so it was hard to get a picture of Ben riding him.

Lounging around.

Making silly faces on the carousel.

Great Friends

2011-08-23T15:13:00.000-04:00

The Bairds (Derek, Rachel, Jackson, & Luke) came to visit us this past weekend. It was a great weekend. They boys had lots of fun playing together and going to Science Central. Derek and Curt were able to golf on Saturday morning while the rest of us were at Science Central. Best of all...Rachel and I were able to go shopping and out to dinner (alone) on Saturday afternoon/evening. It was fun to have some much needed girl time. It really isn't that fun trying to look at clothes with a three year old. :) If only we lived closer and could do this more often.

Jackson, Ben, and Luke outside of Science Central.

Raising the hot air balloon.

Squirting water at each other.

Jackson working with the robot arm.

Me and Ben

An awesome skateboarder!

They all had to try on helmets and get on the skateboards.

Success! (Sorry blurry picture) We worked together to build the arch.

This & That

2011-08-18T14:39:00.001-04:00

We've enjoyed eating fresh veggies from our garden. It's been a learning experience and we'll make some changes for next year. Last week we were getting over loaded with tomatoes. I'm the only one that like to eat them plain & I've had a ton every day...all summer. So, I decided that this bunch of larger ones needed to end up in the freezer.

I've never taken the skins off of tomatoes before, but it ended up being super easy. After a quick boil and a few minutes in ice water it peeled right off. Ben had to sit up on a stool and watch me.

On Monday, after dinner, a hawk came and sat right by our bird feeders. It was a little freaky because it was really close the the house. It could see us through the window and was screeching at us. After about 10 minutes, it saw a bird flying and chased it down. I hope it doesn't come back often.

Ben and I met some friends at the little playground by the YMCA this morning. It was REALLY hot out. There is no shade there, so the kids got super sweaty. Next time I think we need to go to a splash park. :)

Ben, Isaiah, and Will

Splash Park

2011-08-12T14:30:00.000-04:00

Ben and I met my friend Bekah and two of her kids (Isaiah & Amarah) at a new splash park this morning. It is called "Taylor's Dream" and is located at Kreager Park. It just opened up earlier this summer and we were excited to finally get to spend a few hours there. It is a really nice park with lots of equipment for kids of all ages. The kids were having so much fun that we stayed over three hours!

Ben and Isaiah going down the slides.

I was surprised that Ben got into the water today. Sometimes he doesn't like it when water is spraying in his face. He got really soaked today and it was nice to see him conquer that fear.

Giggling boys :)

The kids LOVED this piece of equipment!

Ben and Isaiah on the swings.

Isaiah, Amarah, and Ben on a toy that was kinda like a big boat. There were seats on each side and you could get it to rock back and forth.

Overall, it was a perfect morning. The park wasn't too busy and the weather was wonderful. It was a great way to end the week!

Vera Bradley Outing

2011-08-08T17:07:00.000-04:00

Sunday, we spent most of the afternoon/evening at a TinCaps game. Vera Bradley planned it's annual employee outing there this year. We arrived a little before the game started to enjoy the catered food. As we arrived at Parkview Field it started raining a little bit and when we got our food it was pouring. Thankfully they had an indoor area available to eat in. Around this time, I started not feeling really well. I thought we might have to head home. I felt better about an hour later, so we were able to stay and see the game. Ben had been looking forward to watching the game, so I didn't want to disappoint him by going home. Not my best day, but I made it through. :)

Each family also received TinCaps $ to use at the concessions. It was nice to be able to pick out whatever choices we wanted. Curt and Ben had cotton candy and ice cream cones. I stuck with water because it was pretty hot out and because my stomach wasn't feeling too happy.

We stayed until sometime during the 8th inning, so I think we took full advantage of our free tickets! VB always does a nice job planning employee outings and we really appreciate it.

Curt and Ben down by the field. They were watching the players stretch before the game. It was delayed about 40 minutes because of the rain.

The red sign says, "Welcome Vera Bradley Employees."

Ben wanted cotton candy. After he ate a little bit he said it was "too sugary" for him...go figure. :)

Ben and I took a walk over the the grassy area sometime around the 5th inning to stretch our legs. He had fun running up and down the stairs.

Step #1, Step #2, Step #3042...

2011-08-01T16:20:00.000-04:00

After a long process of looking for a swing set, getting it approved, and waiting for the order to arrive at the store, it finally got delivered to our house on Saturday! Curt wanted to put it together himself instead of paying to have it done. I was afraid that it would take him a couple weeks, but he got it done by Sunday night.

Ben and Curt with most of the swing set pieces.

This is how Ben and I helped on Saturday evening. At least we kept Curt company while we ate popsicles. :)

Curt found this bug on the swing set on Sunday. It as so big and gross that he had to take a picture. Ben and I stayed away until it was gone!

This is pretty much where Curt started on Sunday. It had been upside down on Saturday night (without the extra top wooden piece). I was concerned that Curt would not be able to flip it over to work on the rest, but a neighbor saw him trying to move it and came over to help. I was so happy for that! Later another neighbor brought Curt his drill over with an attachment that really helped speed up Curt's work. We were so thankful for helpful neighbors.

The finished swing set (minus one wooden bar that will go between the swings and the tire swing). Curt will get that added this week.

This is the other side that has a climbing wall. I was surprised how fast Ben climbed right up it.

Curt worked A LOT of hours on it this weekend, but it was worth it to make one little boy so happy. :)

Visit to the Zoo

2011-08-01T16:02:00.000-04:00

We met our friends Patty and Olivia at the zoo this morning. It was hot out there, but we didn't let a little sweat stop our fun! :)

Ben finally got to feed a giraffe today! Every other time we've gone this summer they have not been interested in eating.

Olivia's turn.

Ben took Callie for a ride today. Ben said she was "SUPER slow" and he should find a faster horse next time. She really was the slowest one that he's ever ridden.

Checking out the sea lions.

The rides are cheaper every Monday in August, so we went on lots of rides today. The kids rode the carousel (which we found out that they have grown over the "free" line...why couldn't we have short kids? :) ) and we also went on the train. The train is always nice on a hot day because you get a nice breeze.

I'm not sure what Ben is doing here...brushing the goat's mouth? :)

Ben and Olivia brushing more goats.

Spider-Man Party!

2011-07-31T14:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Ben went to his first "friend" birthday party. It was for his friend Will who turned three. There were lots of cute decorations and party favors, but I forgot to get my camera out until the end of the party.

We all put on super hero tattoos after we arrived and Ben received a cool mask, spider ring, and Spider-Man bracelet. Then the kids played outside in the kiddie pool, on the slip-n-slide, and on the swing set. It was a fun morning visiting with friends!

At the end of the party, they got out a pinata that is supposed to open by pulling the correct ribbon. In this picture, the birthday boy is pulling one of the last ribbons.

Jeremy (Will's dad) lifted Ben up to pull the very last ribbon. The pinata did not open! No candy yet for the patient kiddos.

Jeremy tried to beat it open with a bat before just ripping the top off with his hands. Too bad the whole "ribbon" idea did not work. It seems a lot less dangerous than giving the kids a bat. :)

Ben got so dizzy swinging on this at the party.

The birthday boy enjoying a sucker from the pinata.

Later in the afternoon on Saturday, Ben's new swing set got delivered. More on that fun project to come...

Grandma and Gramps

2011-07-26T12:53:00.000-04:00

My parents came down for a visit and we had fun spending the last couple of days with them. I've already heard Ben say way too many times this morning, "I'm sad Grandma and Gramps had to leave." Since it has been so hot out, I didn't plan too many activities. Instead we had fun hanging out and playing at our house. We did get out for a couple things, though. On Monday morning, Ben and I took my parents to Grabill Country Sales. After looking around at all the interesting things at the store, we enjoyed some cinnamon rolls and donuts in the cafe area. They were delicious. And of course we fit in a trip for dinner at Carlos 'O Kelly's. They really miss eating there since the one in Grand Rapids closed recently.

It would be fun it we lived closer so that we could spend time together more often! Thanks for visiting! :)

Family Vacation

2011-07-17T12:09:00.000-04:00

Last week Sunday, we left Indiana for a few day family vacation in northern Michigan. We were celebrating Curt's parent's 40th anniversary with all of his siblings. We rented a house in the Crystal Mountain Resort that had six bedrooms and enough space for all of us. There were lots of activities such as golfing, playing at the resort pool, and spending a day at the beach.

The day that we went to the beach started out cloudy and windy. I was wrapped up in a towel, thinking that this was the coldest day that I have ever spent at Lake Michigan in the summer. But, later in the afternoon the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful beach day. Ben loved every minute of it. He was literally rolling in the sand.

Curt and Ben testing out the cold Lake Michigan water right after we arrived at the beach in Frankfort.

Some of the fam playing football.

Jacob jumping from a hill on the sand dune.

Peyton's turn.

We walked with Ben down the pier to the lighthouse. I didn't realize how small the pier would get about halfway into our walk. I was so nervous that Ben would fall over the edge. We were definitely holding his hand SUPER tight.

Ben loved laying (and rolling) around in the sand. I wish we lived closer to the beach so we could take him more often.

This is a picture during our drive back to Indiana. We had stopped at Subway for lunch and Ben got some Green Lantern stuff in his kid's meal. He thought it was awesome and wore it most the ride home.

A Morning at the Zoo

2011-07-07T15:34:00.000-04:00

It has been quite a while since we last visited the zoo. This morning we finally had time (and nice weather) to go. Since Ben has not really been staying in his stroller that well, I decided to go without one and see how the visit turned out. He did get tired near the end, but other than that I thought it was wonderful. I didn't have to try to chase him around while maneuvering the stroller. He stayed right by me and we had such a great morning!

Visiting with the mongooses. He liked to watch them digging holes.

Bill and Ina relaxing on the hill.

Trying out one of the tents.

When we were hungry for a snack we found the perfect bench up on a hill. This was our great view.

The giraffes were once again not interested in coming close enough to be fed with the lettuce. That has happened each time we have visited this summer. Hopefully Ben will be able to feed them at least once this summer because he was pretty bummed.

Someone is hatching from his egg!

Choo! Choo!

We took a ride on the train. It was great to feel the breeze on such a hot day.

Ben had fun brushing the goats. He would brush them a little on their backs, ears, and noses.

July 4th Festivities

2011-07-05T20:54:00.000-04:00

We went to our first TinCaps game of the season on July 4th. We usually get seats in the lawn area, but we decided to give the regular seats a try. I thought it would be nice to have a closer view of the game. The seats we got were just a couple rows up and right behind home plate. We enjoyed being so close and now I'm not sure we'll want to ever go back to sitting in the lawn. They had fireworks planned after the game and they did not disappoint! We didn't get home until almost midnight. That is much later than we usually ever stay out, but it was worth it to enjoy some holiday fun together. :)

My boys enjoying a hot dog before the game. It was nice that hot dogs and pop are $1 on Mondays.

Trying to get a family photo. The sun was so bright it was hard to see.

The first pitch of the game.

After the third inning, we got up to let Ben get some wiggles out. We all got an ice cream cone and Ben ended up with a lot of his on his face. :)

What we've been up to...

2011-07-01T19:26:00.000-04:00

Our garden is really starting to flourish. We've only been able to eat some cherry tomatoes so far, but there are lots of other veggies that will be ready in the next few weeks. On a negative note, we had a rabbit adopt our garden. One night he even dug a little hole in the dirt and laid down between the beans and tomatoes...until Curt chased him out of there! He (and probably some other bunny friends) ate up all of our bean plants. I'm bummed about that because I love garden beans. We thought about planting more, but I think they'll just come back and eat them up. They don't seem to be eating anything else, so that's good.

Basil, peppers (red, green, and hot), and carrots

One of the red peppers (still looking green) is getting pretty large.

Lots of yummy tomatoes are growing.

A few zucchini have showed up too.

Wednesday was Curt's birthday. He was able to take the day off of work and it was fun to celebrate all day together! We spent the morning at Crazy Pinz bowling, playing mini-golf, and using the arcade. Ben loved it so much that he wanted to go back again in the afternoon! We told him that we had to wait for another special occasion day. :)

Ben's first time throwing the bowling ball. The ball got stuck on his second roll (because he didn't throw it hard enough). So, Curt helped him the rest of the time.

Playing glow golf.

My turn.

We had fun playing lots of different arcade games.

This morning we met our friends Glenda, Jillian, and Evan at Buckner Park. It was supposed to be a hot sunny day, but it ended up very cloudy and in the 70's. Ben was a little too timid to actually get in the water. Maybe if he had been really sweaty he might have gotten brave. Who knows? He did have fun playing with his friends on the playground.

He would run around the edge of the water area, but not go in. It was probably for the best since he didn't end up chilly from the water on a not so hot day. :)

Climbing on the playground.

Injustice?

2011-06-27T14:33:00.000-04:00

I wonder what Pluto did to deserve this? :)

Up North Weekend

2011-06-27T14:30:00.000-04:00

Friday morning we left our house and headed up to Cadillac, Michigan where the rest of Curt's family lives. Friday night we celebrated Curt's birthday at Tim and Molly's house and Ben enjoyed getting reacquainted with his cousins. We had fun visiting for a few hours before it was time to head to bed.

Saturday was a busy day! Curt had a golf outing with his dad, Tim, and Uncle Doug. The rest of us went to Kenwood Park right next to Lake Cadillac. Mark and Betsy got their new boat out onto the lake and came right by the park to pick us up for a ride. It was really fun to ride out on the lake and Ben loved the wind in his face. It reminded me of the fun times my family had back when we had our boat. I'm sure the Nickels will have a blast taking their boat out many more times this summer. Later in the afternoon, we went to the theater to see Cars 2. The guys that were golfing met us there a little bit after the movie had started. After the movie, we sat outside of Curt's parent's house while the kids did some kind of obstacle course that they made up. They would run, roll down the hill, get up, and run and tag the next person. Ben ran and ran until his face was red and he could barely get up at the bottom of the hill. It took a lot of persuading to get him to take a break. He likes to keep up with the big kids.

After church on Sunday, we enjoyed burgers for lunch at Mark and Betsy's before we had to head back home. Ben was not happy to leave his cousins, but did fall asleep about ten minutes into the drive!

Ben and Jenna playing at the park. (Ben LOVES to have Jenna with him at all times).

Going down the slide.

Molly helping Brady up the climbing wall.

Ben is at the top, steering the ship.

Ready for a boat ride with a life jacket on.

Abby, Jacob, and Katie

Peyton sat in the front of the boat along with me, Jenna, and Ben. We had fun getting splashed by some of the waves.

Lake Cadillac

Curt and Ben outside the theater after watching Cars 2.

Packed Weekend!

2011-06-14T17:04:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday night we headed up to Grand Rapids for the weekend. Curt had plans to golf and see a Tigers game with our friend Derek on Friday. While he was gone doing that, Ben and I went to the mall and out to lunch with my parents. He had Chinese food for the first time and said his favorite part of the meal was, "The cookies and mints." :)

My brother Jacob graduated from high school this year and his open house was on Sunday. We helped my family get ready for that over the course of the weekend. We decided to stay until Monday morning, so that we didn't feel like we had to leave the party early. And I wanted to help clean-up because those things can be a big mess! It was nice to visit with friends and relatives that I have not seen in a long time.

I did a really bad job of getting the camera out, so there are just a few pictures to recap the weekend (most of them are courtesy of Curt).

Curt took this picture with his phone at the Tigers game on Friday night.

On Saturday night, Curt, Ben, my dad, and brother Jacob went to see some local fireworks. The area "Cutlerville Days" were going on and my aunt and uncle have a front row seat to the fireworks in their front yard.

Ben loved the fireworks, but said some of them were really loud.

Jacob, all set for his open house to begin. (My pictures all turned out dark/blurry for some reason).

Pictures and things for the guests to look through at the open house.

When we got home on Monday, Curt checked our strawberry patch and we had a ton of ripe strawberries! I'm glad the birds didn't eat them while we were gone. We enjoyed them with some watermelon my mom sent home with us.

Delicious Treats & Friends

2011-06-08T15:44:00.000-04:00

It is a hot one out there today! It was nice to spend most of the morning doing some fun stuff indoors. We started off at Country Kitchen SweetArt for the toddler time class. The theme this month was "Under the Sea." The kids decorated three cookies and made a molded chocolate crab sucker. We sat with my friend Bekah and her kids (Tiana, Isaiah, and Amarah). After the class was over, Bekah and I headed to our friend Erin's house. While we were there, the kids had fun playing in the backyard on Will's swingset. After they were a bit sweaty (esp. Ben) we headed inside for some lunch. It was wonderful to sit and visit with friends. I wish every day could be this fun! :)

The table is always set up and organized for each child when you come into the class.

Concentrating on filling up his crab mold.

He dipped this cookie in blue chocolate and added the eye. (I think the eye placement makes the fish look a little crazy :) ). He brought his new Cars 2 McQueen and Holly Shiftwell along to help.

Stirring the frosting to soften it up a bit.

Spreading it out on the cookie.

Eating the rest of his frosting after his cookie was covered. Having the extra frosting is always his favorite part of the class.

Adding some sprinkles to the octopus.

He was very proud of his cookies!

Don't they look delicious?

After the crab was ready to come out of the mold, Ben posed with all of his treats. Surprisingly, he has not eaten any of them yet.

The kids LOVED playing on Will's new swingset. They played the rest of the morning inside, because they were getting pretty hot out there!

Leaf Rubbings

2011-06-01T14:05:00.000-04:00

Ben was watching a few minutes of Special Agent Oso on the Disney channel this morning and saw Oso help a little girl make a leaf rubbing picture. We were inspired to head outside and find a few of our own leaves. We found a variety of leaves to use for our pictures. The whole project didn't really last that long, but it was nice to stop what I was doing and have a little fun with Ben.

Ben found the crayons without wrappers that would work best for the rubbings.

Getting to work with a really big leaf.

He colored on his paper when he got tired of rubbing the leaves.

Ben's masterpiece.

I got in on the action and made a picture of my own.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T14:50:00.000-04:00

It is a pretty hot out today! I think it is supposed to get up to 90 degrees. Since it was already very warm out this morning, we decided to break out Ben's new McQueen pool. He was very excited and jumped right in even though the water was freezing! We stayed out all morning until it was time for lunch. Then, Curt headed out to play some golf and Ben had a nap. Yesterday we spent most of the morning/afternoon trying to clean up the backyard landscaping mess, so it was nice to just sit and relax today.

Ben loves his new pool!

This is the nice spot that Curt and I hung out in.

Trying out the slide. It was a little wobbly.

Curing the Rainy Day Blahs...

2011-05-26T15:47:00.000-04:00

By making pretzels!

I feel like it has rained most of the spring so far. I wonder if that means we will barely have a drop of rain over the summer? We are getting bored of being cooped up in the house or running errands. Today I decided to make homemade pretzels with Ben. It brought me back to my childhood when my mom would make these on a weekend afternoon. My siblings and I could hardly wait for the the dough to rise, so they could get in the oven. Ben was a great helper. His favorite part was rolling out the dough into snakes. It was a fun way to pass the morning and we had something to eat when the pretzels were finished. So basically a win-win!

Ben had to keep an eye on the dough when it was mixing with the dough hook.

I cut the dough into sixteen pieces then rolled one out so that Ben could see how long he needed to make his "snakes."

Ben rolled out all of the other pieces. I just had to make an adjustment here or there.

The pretzels all ready for an egg wash and salt.

Ben helped add the salt to the tops. It took a bit of practice for him to sprinkle it more that dump it in a pile. :)

Ready for the oven.

This picture doesn't really go with the pretzels, but I thought it was funny. While I was cleaning up the dishes from making the dough Ben decided to "help" me by cleaning the dishwasher with a wet paper towel. I think his streaks really added a nice touch.

The first pan of pretzels cooling on the counter...all ready for us to eat!

Delicious! We ate them for lunch. Ben ate three. He said we were great pretzel makers and I would have to agree. :)

Zoo Trip with Friends

2011-05-23T15:28:00.000-04:00

This past weekend our friends, the Bairds, came down from Grand Rapids for a visit. While Derek and Curt went golfing on Saturday morning, Rachel and I took the boys to the zoo. It was way warmer than I anticipated with my clothing choices, but other than that we had a wonderful visit. I think most of Fort Wayne was there with us too!

Luke and Ben driving the Safari car.

Ben, Jackson, and Luke (in the background) playing on the drums.

It's impossible to get three kids to look at the camera at the same time. :)

Ben took a pony ride on Cookie. She really took her time on the walk, but I guess you get more for you money that way, right?

I thought this picture was funny. They just stared at each other while Ben brushed his chin.

Vegetable Garden

2011-05-15T16:28:00.001-04:00

The house that we moved into last month has two raised beds in the backyard all ready for a garden. We've never had a garden before and usually don't know what we are doing with plants. But, we decided to give it a try because we love fresh veggies! On Saturday morning we bought some plants for the garden and got everything planted before lunch. It was good timing because the rest of the weekend it has been raining. We planted tomatoes (large and cherry), cucumbers, zucchini, peppers (red/green/ and some hot ones Curt wanted to try), cilantro, basil, carrots, green beans, cantaloupe, and watermelon (that was Ben's pick...I guess we'll see how much room it takes up). Hopefully we will end up with some good things to eat later in the summer and I'm sure we'll learn some things to do differently for next year.

The empty gardens all ready to be planted.

We placed the plants around to try to figure out where we wanted everything.

Ben helping Curt with the planting.

Ben brought the plants to Curt after they soaked in a bucket for a few minutes. That was what the directions on the container said to do.

Planting a row of carrots. We had to use seeds for them, so we'll see how they turn out.

The finished garden. Now I just hope we can keep it alive! :)

Springtime Treats

2011-05-11T13:02:00.000-04:00

This morning, Ben had fun making a few treats at the Country Kitchen SweetArt during the Toddler Time class. Some friends saved us a front row seat. It was fun to get a close-up view of the teacher's demonstrations. He made a ladybug cupcake, a bee cupcake, and a frog lollipop. He has already devoured the ladybug and I'm sure the rest will be gone soon! :)

Adding some chocolate to the heart molds.

Ben sat with his friends Isaiah and Tiana. He was very excited when he walked in and saw them at the class.

Decorating the ladybug cupcake.

The ladybug and bee cupcakes.

Adding some chocolate to "glue" the eyes on the frog.

Showing off the delicious frog lollipop.

Mother's Day Trip to the Zoo

2011-05-08T16:59:00.000-04:00

It has been raining so much lately, I feel like the house is going to float away. Thankfully today it did not rain and we were able to enjoy our first trip to the zoo this season. We had a fun time, but had to work through Ben's new super independent streak. I had brought along the stroller because there are some long spots of walking so I thought he might need a rest, but he really just wanted to walk the whole time. Now that wouldn't really be a problem if his idea of walking wasn't running like a wild child way ahead of us. I felt like I said, "Ben stop running, please" and "Ben you need to walk next to us" and "Ben don't run way ahead of us" about a million times. I need to work on him walking "with" me so that I don't go crazy on any future zoo trips! I seriously feel like I need to have one of those things that attach our wrists together. :) Other than that, we had a fun morning out visiting with the animals. The new zoo entrance looks great and I'm sure we will visit many many more times over the spring and summer. There are a few pictures from our trip below for you to enjoy.

Ben Reading

2011-05-04T21:52:00.000-04:00

Ben Reading from Curt Walker on Vimeo.

Recently, I started working on some reading skills with Ben. I got the first set of these books from Amazon. He has read through the first three books and we wanted to share a video of him reading the first book. He did all the reading for this video without any help from us. I'm so proud of him and he is excited to recognize words all by himself!

Rain...you can't keep us away!

2011-05-02T15:55:00.000-04:00

My mom group from church had plans to meet at a park this morning. It was at the Concordia Seminary and we had never been there before. Well, the morning started off with some rain and I thought about not going. I figured not many people would show up and all the equipment would be wet. But, Ben really wanted to go so we grabbed some towels to wipe everything down. After a while, my friend Adrienne and her son Austin came and the boys had fun playing together. It wasn't the best day for the park, but I'm glad we went because Ben loved it and wanted to stay all day! :)

Trying out one of the slides after we dried it off.

This was one side of the playground. I thought it was a great place to play. We will definitely go back!

Crossing a bridge.

Playing with a musical toy.

Another part of the playground.

Ben did really well going up the climbing walls and rope ladders.

Ben helping to dry the inside of the slide with a towel.

Having fun on the tire swing!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T15:56:00.000-04:00

We spent Easter weekend up in Cadillac, Michigan with Curt's family. It was the first time we were all together since Christmas. The weekend was a wonderful time with lots of good food and fellowship. We arrived on Friday around dinner time. Curt and I stopped at Betsy's house right away to pick up Ben. I was SO HAPPY to see him! After we loaded up all of his stuff we headed to Tim and Molly's house to eat dinner with the whole family. Then on Saturday, we celebrated the three April birthdays at Mark and Betsy's house. We stayed all day and had a yummy lunch and dinner. On Sunday after church we were able to squeeze in lunch and an Easter egg hunt before heading home. We got home a lot later than we usually do, but it was nice to be able to have a full weekend together.

Betsy decorated her house for a soccer birthday party. Aren't the decorations really cute? The celebration was for Curt's dad, my niece Katie, and my nephew Peyton.

Betsy also made these really cute soccer cupcakes. They were so good. I really need to get exercising after all the food we ate this weekend!

Peyton opening up one of his presents.

Katie reading a birthday card.

Curt's dad looking at the personalized golf balls that we got him.

Ben was really excited to open up his Easter basket...can you tell? :)

Ben looking for Easter eggs after church.

Some of the cousins looking for their eggs. They each had a different color to look for, so that is was easy for the little kids and more challenging for the big kids.

Ben looking through his bag of soccer eggs. He enjoyed eating quite a few of the treats from in his eggs on the ride home.

Ben's Room

2011-04-22T10:25:00.000-04:00

We finally got the shelves hung up in Ben's room last night. I think he will be excited to see his room completed when we get home with him on Sunday. I'm so thankful the sun finally came out yesterday. I was able to spend a few hours in the afternoon cutting down all of the dead parts of the plants in the front of the house. It took forever, but it looks so much better. Next we will have to tackle the backyard landscaping mess! There was even time for Curt to mow the lawn. Now we are back to rain again today. I wonder when the nice spring weather is going to come and actually stay for a few days?

Some House Pictures

2011-04-20T14:54:00.000-04:00

I took a few house pictures for those of you that would like to see it. I didn't take any pictures of Ben's room because we still need to hang up a few things, but I will add those when we are done. Moving has been very tiring, but overall things have gone very smoothly. There are no boxes left and just a few details to work on. I feel like I can almost breathe a sigh of relief...almost. :)

The front of our new house. It was really windy out there, so I didn't get the best picture.

The entry way as you come in the front door. There is a big closet off to the right. The door that you see leads down to the basement.

The staircase that you see as you walk in.

The dining room is off to your left as you come in the house. We still need to get a dining table, but that might be a while yet. It's not at the top of our list. :)

The kitchen

The eating area right off of the kitchen.

The living room. We painted the living room/kitchen area on Sunday. It was a much bigger job than I anticipated, but it was nice to freshen up the rooms.

Ben's play area in the basement. We are still going to add a big rug for the floor, but we haven't picked one out yet.

This is another part of the basement. There are three storage closets and a half bath down there too.

This is the other corner of the basement. We are still waiting on the ottoman that matches the couch and we will also pick out a rug for this area.

This is the guest room. The treadmill and file cabinet are off to one side that you can't see. I was happy that everything fit in there. We have another empty bedroom. It's very pink. There isn't really much in there so I didn't get a picture of it.

The Master Bedroom

The Master Bathroom

Another view of the Master Bathroom.

Ben's Travels

2011-04-18T17:22:00.000-04:00

We are working on getting all settled in our new house. I'll post some pictures soon after we get a few for things organized. Yesterday Curt and I spent the whole day painting the kitchen/living room. I had talked myself out of doing it a few times, but decided in the end I would regret not doing it while Ben was away.

Speaking of Ben, he is spending the whole week at his Aunt Betsy and Uncle Mark's house. They came down this past weekend (along with Curt's parents) to help us move our big furniture. He was SO EXCITED to go stay with his cousins. He has been wanting to pack his bag all week. I don't think he is going to miss us at all, but we sure do miss him. I've been busy today getting things done in the new house today and it is strangely quiet without Ben. We've only ever been away from him for one night before, so I'm sure it's good for all of us to let Ben stay somewhere else. If you'd like to see what he's been up to so far you can check out my sister-in-law's blog at Life Up North.

We're getting there...

2011-04-11T12:00:00.000-04:00

I've been so horrible with taking pictures lately. We've been so busy every day with house stuff that I don't ever think about getting it out. I should have taken some 'before' house pics, but I even forgot to do that. I did get the above picture of Ben helping with the loading on Saturday morning, but only because Curt said we should get a picture. I promise I'll do better with the blog when this craziness is over in a couple weeks. :)

This past weekend my parents came to help with moving the stuff out of our garage and some other projects. We rented a UHAUL cargo van and it was really helpful with fitting all of the boxes/totes in the garage. Curt and my dad made several trips back and forth. They were able to get several things from inside the house too. We all worked together (with the ladder) to load a bunch of stuff up in the attic. The new space is smaller, but we were still able to get quite a bit of stuff up there. It will be much easier when we get a permanent ladder installed. My dad also changed the light in Ben's room when we returned the cargo van.

On Friday, Curt and I got Ben's room painted. It is a 'sand' color as Ben's calls it. I think it will look good with all of his bedroom stuff. Sunday morning my mom helped us get started on painting our bedroom. I got that all finished by the afternoon. We might paint one more area, but not until next week. I really don't love painting, so I am dreading it.

That's what we've accomplished so far. Over the next few days we will bring loads over in the Jeep until nothing is left, but the big furniture. Then on Friday afternoon we will get a UHAUL truck and move the rest over. It will feel good to have everything at the new house!

Super Cool!

2011-04-05T17:15:00.000-04:00

Someone was looking pretty awesome in his new shades at the mall today. One more day until we close on the house and the marathon of fun (otherwise known as work) will begin! :)

We are still alive!

2011-03-31T15:15:00.000-04:00

It has been awhile since I last posted. We are all alive and kicking. I just haven't had the camera out too much lately. There hasn't really been anything too exciting going on (unless you count my day with the flu last week...which I don't). Today I did some shopping with Ben at the Jefferson Pointe mall on the south end of town. After going to a couple stores, we stopped at Chick-fil-a for some lunch. Ben must have been starving because he ate every last bite of his meal!

We are getting ready to close on our new house next Wednesday and we're all very excited. I've been doing lots of packing and organizing in hopes that it will be a smooth transition. We're going to get Ben's room painted before we move our stuff in and possibly our room too. Then, we'll move our stuff over two weekends (and make small trips during the week between). I'm sure no matter how we do it, we're going to be worn out! I can't believe all of the extra things we accumlated with Ben over the last three years. I'm lookng forward to have the move over with and not thinking about packing anymore.

Ben making a silly smile with a mouth full of chocolate milk while eating lunch today. :)

Science Central

2011-03-23T15:57:00.000-04:00

This morning we met Patty and Olivia at Science Central . It was nice to have something fun to do on this rainy day. Ben had such a good time there that he did not want to leave when it was time to go. I had to carry him out of there...I think he would have stayed all day!

Ben and Olivia squirting water at each other.

Looking at a rock through a big magnifying glass.

Saying "hello" to the lizard.

Looking at the spider...yikes!

Playing with one of the robot arms.

Ben really liked pretending to be the weatherman. He predicted sunny weather for tomorrow...we'll see. :)

He did a pretty good job climbing. He said he had his "arms out for balance."

My Sister's Wedding

2011-03-21T13:02:00.000-04:00

We were up in Grand Rapids this past weekend to attend my sister Jessica's wedding. Ben was the ring bearer and looked very cute in his vest and tie. He took his job very seriously and even walked down the aisle all by himself (after the flower girl chickened out). If you're interested, there are several pictures below, most of them are from before the ceremony. I should have taken some of Ben dancing at the reception because he was hilarious!

Ben, enjoying an animal cracker snack.

My sister, Jessica, getting ready for the big day.

Ben posing by the piano at the front of the church. The wedding was at Ada Bible Church in one of the smaller rooms called "The Chapel."

My nieces Molly and Emma

My nephew Caleb and Ben

My niece Mya

Ben showing Paul (my sister's husband) his animal crackers before the ceremony. Those crackers seemed to show up in all of the pictures. :)

Mya and Emma walking with the flower girl, Bella.

My parents posing for a picture with Ben and Molly. Don't you love Ben's smile?

Me and Curt

My brothers Matt and Joe acting like they are deep in thought. They made "film crew" tags because my sister asked them to take pictures of and record the wedding.

Sitting with my sister before the ceremony.

Jessica and Paul dancing at the reception.

Spring is in the Air!

2011-03-16T16:32:00.000-04:00

After Ben's nap this afternoon we went outside to enjoy the warmer temperature (and no rain) today. Ben rode his bike for a while and then we took a walk down to the neighborhood playground. Tomorrow is supposed to be even better weather, so we will definitely be out there again. It feels like a LONG time since we could play outside (without snow). I hope the warmer weather is here to stay!

Out and About

2011-03-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

It's Saturday and we've been trying to get some things checked off our "to do" list. One of those things was a much needed haircut for Ben. His hair grows so fast and it was really looking a little crazy. After running a few other errands we stopped for lunch. Curt took a couple pictures of our morning on his phone, so I thought I'd share them on the blog.

Ben getting his hair cut. It was his second one that we haven't done at home. He did a great job sitting still and I love that I don't have a hairy mess to clean up at home.

After a stop at Kohl's we went out to lunch at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. I've never been there, but Curt has gone a few times with friends from work. The burgers were really good, but after eating that for lunch I think we'll need a light dinner. :)

Sweet Treats

2011-03-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

After several months, we finally made it back to Country Kitchen SweetArt. I tried to sign Ben up for some of the toddler classes this fall/winter and they were always booked on the days that worked in our schedule. This month's theme was Tie Dye Treats. Patty and Olivia met us there this morning. It was their first trip the the Country Kitchen. The kids made a colorful cookie, used molds to make a chocolate sucker, and decorated a cupcake. We had a fun time and will try to go back soon...if they're not already booked through spring and summer! :)

Ben stayed occupied with coloring while we waited for the class to start.

I let him finish off the rest of the frosting after he was done putting it on his cupcake.

Swirling the colors on his cupcake with a toothpick.

The finished treats (minus the green shamrock he ate off the sucker). :)

Ben and Olivia...he was making silly smiles, so this was the best picture I could get.

Weekend Relaxing

2011-03-07T08:31:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, Ben enjoyed playing with his car track. Curt helped him set up all of his trucks, so the cars were ready for their race.

On Sunday, Ben wanted to watch a movie with all of his "buddies". He set them all up on the couch, perfectly situated, for the best view. :)

Super Readers

2011-03-01T17:19:00.000-05:00

To the Rescue!

Ben likes watching the show Super Why. Today while he was watching it, he decided to get out his scooter and helmet so that he could be like Whyatt, Red, Pig, and Princess Pea. You can never be too safe while riding your scooter in the house. :)

Who's sick of winter?

2011-02-25T14:30:00.000-05:00

ME!!!!!

I am ready for the snow to be gone for good. Last week at this time the snow had almost completely melted and the sun was shining outside. Ben even got to ride his bike around on the weekend. Now, we are back to having snow everywhere and I am depressed about it since last week teased me with warmer temps. Ben had fun playing outside today with some neighbor friends. While he did that, I got to shovel the driveway. I hope I don't have to do that too many more times this year.

Besides the weather, we've had a pretty good week around here. I had my Mom2Mom group on Wednesday, which is always a good time and Ben enjoys playing in his class. Yesterday, Ben and I got new books at the library and stayed for Storytime. After that, I surprised him with lunch at "Old McDonald's." I forgot to bring the camera along, so I didn't get any pictures. We've also been working on the letter "K". He did a couple projects, looked for K's around the house, read K some books, and used the Starfall site.

I snapped a quick picture of Ben playing with his friend Morgan. They were going to make a snowman. I'm not sure that ever got completed. When some more kids came outside, they changed to sledding on the hill behind our house.

Upper and Lowercase K's

We printed some pictures of things that begin with K. After I cut them out Ben glued them onto the paper. We've done this a couple other times and Ben seems to really enjoy picking out the pictures from the internet or magazines.

I haven't heard the weather for next week, but I going to hope that Spring will be on its way soon! :)

Grandma and Pop

2011-02-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

Curt's parents came to visit us for the weekend and we had such a nice time! They left this afternoon to head back home. When Ben woke up from his nap, he was so sad that they were gone. He said, "Why did Grandma and Pop have to leave? Why can't they live here with us?" It's hard that we can't live close to our families, but we really enjoy the times that we spend together.

Ben rode the carousel with Pop on Saturday after we ate some lunch in the food court.

Ben got out his favorite Go Fish game to play with them.

We had Despicable Me from Netflix, so we decided to watch that together on Saturday night. Ben loved sitting close to Grandma during the movie.

After lunch on Sunday, Ben picked out several books for Grandma to read to him.

Come again soon! :)

The Letter "V"

2011-02-17T13:03:00.000-05:00

We are down to our last few letters and this week I chose "V" in honor of Valentine's Day.

Upper and Lowercase V's.

On Valentine's Day Ben made a cute caterpillar and fish out of hearts. Before he glued everything onto the paper, I had the letters for L-O-V-E and H-U-G-S laying on the table. I did not tell Ben yet what the words were. He looked at LOVE and sounded it out and then said, "Love!" It was the first word that he's read on his own, besides his name. I was so proud of him! Yesterday he also sounded out BABY when he saw it in a magazine. He is learning so fast!

We did a volcano experiment yesterday. Ben was so excited to see "hot lava." I put 1/4 cup of baking soda and red sprinkles in the glass jar. Then, I put the top on and shook it to mix them together. After that, Ben poured 1/4 cup of vinegar in the jar and watched the eruption. We had enough baking soda in there for probably 5 eruptions.

The volcano erupting...Ben thought it was really cool!

I also helped Ben put together a letter "V" book. He helped me think of things that started with "V" and then I printed pictures of them. After I cut the pictures out, he glued then onto the pages. Now we have it hanging on the frig so that he can take it down and look at it whenever he wants. There are a couple sample pages below.

We only have 7 letters left to go. I can't believe that we are almost done with the whole alphabet. Since he is so interested in reading, I think we will focus on that next.

Valentine's Day Cookies

2011-02-12T22:44:00.000-05:00

Curt, Ben, and I had a fun afternoon decorating sugar cookies. I haven't made sugar cookies in a while. Every time I make them, it seems like things go bad after I try to roll them out. It turns into a dough nightmare. Usually I can figure it out and make it work, but then I vow not to make them again for a long time.

Today I tried a new recipe I found online and it also shared a tip that I thought was awesome. They said to roll the dough out immediately between two pieces of parchment paper, then lay it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Then, I could cut the heart shapes from the already rolled out dough and I didn't even need to use any extra flour. It changed my world...I think I might not hate making sugar cookies after all!

The cookies and decorating supplies

Ben took his sprinkle artwork very seriously.

Curt did a fabulous job with the pink frosting.

Our work is done and we are ready to enjoy a couple cookies!

Anyone want a cookie? I think we have way more than we can eat! :)

Young Scientist

2011-02-11T15:39:00.000-05:00

This morning, Ben and I met our friends Adrienne and Austin at Science Central. Ben was so excited to go and play with all of the fun stuff there. Here are a few pictures from our visit.

Ben and Austin playing in the water.

Ben trying to squirt me with water.

He used a magnet to move a marble through the maze.

Astronaut Ben

Having fun on the slide.

Making a ramp for a little golf ball to roll down.

Sticking numbers and pictures to a window.

We had a really fun time this morning! We'll definitely need to make a few more trips to help get through the winter months.

Are we frozen yet?

2011-02-10T14:25:00.001-05:00

This morning we met our friends Bekah (Tiana, Isaiah, and Amarah) at Bounce Mania. It was our third trip there this winter, so I was prepared for the cold temps (it is set up right next to the ice rink)...or so I thought. I don't know if the really cold temperature outside (it was -3 degrees according to the Jeep) somehow affects the inside temperature, but it was way colder in there than the last two times. The kids had to keep their gloves on the whole time & their little hands were still getting red. We let the kids play for about an hour, then decided it would be fun to go out for lunch at Wendy's. I think Ben and Isaiah could have stayed there all morning. The freezing temps didn't seem to bother them at all!

Ben had a little trouble climbing with his gloves on. I had to give him a boost a few times.

Ben going down the slide with Isaiah. They would laugh so hard at the bottom, then run to climb up the ladder again.

Having fun in the bounce castle.

The Letter "M"

2011-02-05T15:36:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of the things Ben did this week for the letter M.

Mountain and marshmallow M's...He liked the marshmallow one best because he kept eating them out of the bowl!

Ben got some special Cars valentines ready to send in the mail.

One of the days we read this book. We love all the books in this series!

Then, Ben made a moose like the one in the story.

He also practiced measuring. I used the wooden cubes from his block set as our unit of measurement. Then, I had him pick out a few things from the kitchen to measure. I got a chart ready and had him make a prediction before he measured each item.

Seeing how many cubes he needs for the Cheerios box.

I thought he did a great job with his predictions. The first one he measured was the chocolate syrup. After that one, he was either one off the actual amount or right on the dot. He was really into the measuring, so after the paper was full we just kept pulling stuff out of the pantry to measure.

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-02T11:54:00.001-05:00

Being from Michigan, it has been interesting to hear everyone freaking out this week about the blizzard. Thankfully, I got groceries this weekend and did not need to be a part of the madness that was going on at the area grocery stores. On Tuesday, there was probably only about three inches of snow outside and all of the schools were cancelled. It made me laugh. Growing up, I remember spending many mornings digging my car out of the driveway, so that I could get to school. Memories like those are a big part of the reason I am NOT a fan of winter. :)

This morning we had maybe a foot of snow. Curt did not have to go into work, but has been working from his computer at home. He took a break this morning to help me shovel the driveway. When we were out shoveling, it was funny to watch Ben try to walk through the yard. It was pretty deep for a three year old! It seemed like all of our neighbors were out with snow blowers and one came down to our house and finished up our driveway. So nice of him! After playing in the snow for a while in the backyard, we came in to get some hot chocolate.

I heard that the groundhog is predicting an early spring...we'll see.

Ben in his favorite hide-out.

Photographic proof that I was outside today. :)

Curt relaxing after shoveling the sidewalk in front of our house.

Ben played with our neighbors, Alex and Morgan, in our backyard. Since it was hard for him to walk in the snow they kept trying to pull him up the hill in his sled. It was funny to watch them. He is not light!

Who wants to go to the circus?

2011-01-29T18:04:00.001-05:00

We do!!!

This morning we went to see the Mizpah Shrine Circus. It was Ben's first time going to a circus and he has been very excited about it the last couple of weeks. We bought Ben a light up sword and he had fun waving it around in the dark arena. They had a wide variety of different acts to see (one esp. freaked me and Curt out-pic below). Overall, we had a great time together as a family and would definitely go back again.

Ben did not want to get too close to this clown for my photo-op. Now that I look at the clown again, I'm not sure that I blame him. :)

Ben and Daddy

Ben and Mommy

This was the first act of the circus. The motorcycle was hanging on a wire right in front of us.

Ben kept asking, "Where are their handle bars?"

It was pretty crazy to see a bear riding a motorcycle.

This was the act that freaked us out the most. It was performed by the ring master. He was inside that silver circle, running as it went around and around. There was nothing below to help him if he fell out. Then, he decided to climb on the outside of it while it spun around. After that he added jumping rope, juggling, and running blindfolded. I'm sure he's done this a million times, but I was so worried that he was going to fall off of it.

You can't have a circus without tigers.

This guy was interesting. He came in carrying a crocodile. Then, periodically, he would clamp its mouth shut with his hands and kiss it. Strange.

I think Ben loved the animal parts the most. Before we went to the circus he thought there would be elephants, tigers, lions, and dogs. He was right about three of them...no lions though.

The Letter "L"

2011-01-28T17:13:00.000-05:00

Ben has really been into reading the Little Critter books lately. Since we worked on the letter L this week, we picked out several at the library. He loves them and I've lost count at how many times I read them already. I also like to use the Starfall website. They have some cute things for each letter. Ben usually likes to click on about 10 letters each time we go to that site, not just the one we are working on that week.

Ben glued Smarties on the uppercase "L", then drew a line to turn them into lollypops.

Lowercase "l" became a lighthouse.

One of the afternoons, I poured salt into a pan and had him practice writing some letters. He liked giving it a little shake to clear the letters. He seemed to prefer it over the shaving cream because it didn't really make his hands messy.

I made four big ladybugs for him and he chose how many spots each one should have. Then, he glued the spots onto each ladybug.

Going for a Ride

2011-01-27T18:34:00.000-05:00

After shopping at the mall for a couple hours this morning, we were in need of a break. I let Ben pick out two rides and then burn off some energy in the play area. His favorite ride is the Kiddie Coaster. He gets so excited when it moves backwards and forwards. He really wanted to ride on it more than once, but it is a bit pricey at $1 a ride. We've had a busy week, so I think tomorrow we are going to stay home, wear comfy clothes, play games, read books, and finish up working on the letter L.

Ice Skating

2011-01-25T17:06:00.000-05:00

Curt just sent me a few ice skating pictures that the Vera Bradley photographer took at the Christmas party in December. When we were at Bounce Mania today (right next to one of the ice rinks), Ben said that he wanted to go ice skating again. We'll have to give it another try soon!

Bounce Mania

2011-01-25T15:36:00.001-05:00

This morning, Ben and I met the other moms (and kiddos) from my Mom2Mom group at Bounce Mania. We had been there once before for the Vera Bradley Christmas party. We went during the toddler time (ages 2-6), so it was nice to not worry about big kids knocking down Ben. Ben had such a fun time playing with his friends. I also had a blast going down the slides several times. If only they could make it about 20 degrees warmer, it would be the perfect place to take your kids!

Ben bouncing with Brenna and Westin.

Climbing the ladder for the slide.

Going down the slide with me.

I saw this happy face every time he came down one of the slides.

My Little Snowman

2011-01-24T16:50:00.000-05:00

Today, I took Ben outside after his nap. I had some hard labor in mind for him (shoveling), but he only lasted a few minutes. Typical. :) After I got the driveway & sidewalks shoveled we headed to the backyard to play in the snow. Curt got me some snowpants for Christmas and I loved using them. I felt warm the whole time we were outside! Maybe they will help make a winter lover out of me...on second thought, probably not. :)

My happy helper.

Making a snow angel.

Trying to crawl out of his angel without wrecking it.

Ready to slide down the hill in our backyard.

Going head first down his slide.

Being silly!

Give me an "F"

2011-01-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

I have not been doing a great job posting on the blog this week. So, for the few of you out there that keep up with us, sorry about that. We spent many of the days this week doing exciting things like getting groceries, doing laundry, and running errands. Nothing that you really want to see a picture of. :)

One of the mornings this week was spent on a mission to find cilantro. Who would have thought it would be that difficult? I usually just grab it (when I've needed it) on my regular grocery shopping trip. I needed it to make some salsa for this weekend. Well, the store was out of it when I got groceries on Monday. I thought I would just need to make a quick trip to another store later in the week. When I went later in the week, I struck out at three different stores. On my last attempt at store #4 (Meijer), I finally found some. Curt looked online and discovered there is a cilantro shortage going on right now...who would have thought? And more importantly, am I going to have to go through this again the next time I want homemade salsa?

The letter Ben worked on this week was "F". He did several projects and pointed out "F's" left and right everywhere we went. When we previously worked on a project, they would end up taped all over the frig. Now, I get to hang them up on his new art wire and I love it! It is so fun for me to add projects to it every day and see everything hanging up at the end of the week. It feels organized and anyone who knows me knows that organization makes me very happy. Ben has been doing really well with counting too. He can count to 30 (every once in a while he'll still make a mistake) and he can count to 100 by 10's.

I'll try to do better with posting next week!

I had Ben color a few fish using his fingerprints. He wanted to use several different colors, so by the end all of his fingers were colored. He was a little worried about this, but I assured him that the washable marker would come right off with some soap.

Since Ben enjoyed finding pictures last week for the letter W, I decided to try it again for the letter F. The Flinstones were a bit before Ben's time, so we had to watch some clips on YouTube to catch him up. He thought it was great!

He has been getting better at holding the glue bottle steady. In this picture, he is putting glue on a piece of fire.

A burning building and fire truck to the rescue.

The Letter "W"

2011-01-14T18:47:00.001-05:00

Ben worked this week on the letter W. Sometimes I let him pick the next letter we will work on and this week he picked W because it starts our last name. He amazes me every day with his desire to learn new things. I've had a great time planning projects/activities each week for us to work on together.

We looked through magazines to find interesting words to glue on to the uppercase W.

Lowercase w showed some different kinds of weather.

One of the afternoons, Ben made a wax paper project using little pieces of crayon. I used an iron to melt the crayon after he was done putting it on the wax paper.

The wax paper art project.

Wednesday, we searched through magazines and on the computer for pictures of things that started with W. Ben glued all of the W pictures onto a big piece of paper. He said his favorites were Whyatt & Wonder Red (from Super Why) and Woody & Wheezy (from Toy Story).

He also made a slice of watermelon. He painted a paper plate green and after it dried he added the rest of the details.

One fabulous piece of watermelon!

Racing Cars

2011-01-13T20:54:00.000-05:00

Here's a little video of Ben using his new racetrack that he got for Christmas from Curt's parents. It is a Disney Cars track, so it works well with the millions of Cars cars that he owns. :)

Science Central

2011-01-08T19:34:00.000-05:00

Since we have a season pass to Science Central, we decided to play there for a little while this morning before going out to lunch at Chick-fil-a.

Curt and Ben put on a puppet show.

Building with some blocks.

Ben tried hard to squirt water on Curt.

Curt squirted water back at Ben.

Making a bubble window.

Dancing around on the big piano.

Curt and Ben held a button that caused the air in the hot air balloon to become heated.

The balloon is filling up and it's almost hot enough to raise it up in the air.

There it goes!

Ben and I tried out our skateboarding skills. Thankfully, for my sake, they are secured to the floor. :)

Curt and Ben had fun using controls to make this robot arm pick up items and drop them in different spots.

The Letter "N"

2011-01-07T16:12:00.000-05:00

This week, Ben worked on the letter N. After taking a couple weeks off for the holidays, it was nice to get back into the swing of things. We had fun with some different activities and even made a yummy treat!

Ben glued numbers onto the lowercase n.

After gluing noodles on the uppercase N, Ben painted them.

I had him use cards numbered 1-10 to count with Nutter Butter Bites. After all that counting, he ate some for a snack. :)

Counting and placing the Nutter Butters on the cards.

One of the days, we made edible nests for a special treat. We mixed melted chocolate with chow mein noodles for the nest and added Whoppers for the eggs. They turned out HUGE, so we didn't end up eating the whole thing.

We also put together a Noah's Ark mural. My brother Matt picked up an art wire for me at IKEA & I've really enjoyed hanging up Ben's art work this week. It is much easier than taping it to the refrigerator!

Working at the Car Wash

2011-01-06T16:42:00.000-05:00

One of the Christmas presents that Ben received from my parents was a Cars color changer car wash. Before Christmas, he had a few color changers that he would usually take into the bathtub or play by the sink. Now he has fun using the car wash at the table. It does make a wet mess, so we like to put a towel underneath it. I took a few pictures of him playing this afternoon.

Very focused on squirting the cold water.

Putting the car on the slide that goes down to the warm water.

A crazy smile for the camera! :)

Boy's Night

2011-01-06T08:07:00.000-05:00

Curt found out that the Cornerstone University men's basketball team was going to be in Fort Wayne again last night and decided to take Ben out to the game. They went to a game together last month and Ben did really well sitting through the game.

Cornerstone vs. Indiana Tech

Curt humored me by taking the camera along. :) Ben made it through quite a bit of the game, but in the second half he was starting to get tired, so they headed home.

Curt found out after they got home that Cornerstone won the game!

Ben & Santa

2011-01-01T14:25:00.000-05:00

When we were at the VB Christmas party, Ben got to have his picture taken with Santa. Curt got the cd of pics back a few days ago, so I thought I'd share one of them with you. Ben kinda looks like he is just dangling there, but he is really sitting on Santa's knee. I hope everyone is enjoying the first day of 2011. Someone around here (Curt) has been waiting all morning for the Spartans game to start. I think it's going to be a football filled afternoon/evening for us.

Walker Family Christmas

2010-12-31T15:35:00.000-05:00

We spent Sunday through Tuesday afternoon with Curt's family. They had quite a bit of snow up in Cadillac and Ben was able to go sledding two times. Sadly, I didn't send Curt with the camera either time. On Monday we celebrated Christmas together. We started with stockings, had a fabulous breakfast, then opened presents after each family shared something (like a story or song that they had planned). The rest of the day was filled with toys, fellowship, and games. We had a fun time and made lots of great memories.

Ben with his stocking. I'm not sure why he has such a pained smile.

Katie and Abby played a song together.

The Nickel kids shared a story about the true meaning of Christmas.

Curt's mom read a Max Lucado story about an little lamb that spent the night in the stable with Jesus.

Ben was really excited to get a Cars racetrack. His cars really fly fast on that thing!

Bierema Family Christmas

2010-12-31T15:24:00.000-05:00

This year, we spent Christmas Day with my family. It was fun to spend time with my parents, siblings, my sister's fiance Paul & his kids, and my cousin Miranda & her daughter Bella. I ate way more food than I should have because there were so many choices. We had fun games for the adults & kids and enjoyed our time visiting together.

Ben and Bella. They had a fun few days playing together.

My brothers, Joe & Matt, being forced by me to take a picture. :)

Ben with Gramps and Grandma.

Emma and Mya getting into the Christmas spirit with some singing.

Time to open presents.

I got a new fleece from my brother Matt.

The kids had fun playing a hot-potato type game with a singing Rudolph. Grandma had lots of prizes for the winners to choose from.

A Delicious Meal with Friends

2010-12-31T15:08:00.000-05:00

When we were up in Grand Rapids, we got to spend the evening of the 23rd with the Bairds. They invited us over for dinner and we were able to have our first experience with Derek's new grill he got a few months ago. It's a "Big Green Egg" grill. We've heard many tales about how awesome the food turns out, so it was nice to taste it for ourselves. He made a couple chickens and baked potatoes. It was SOOO good! The chicken was tender, flavorful, and juicy. The potatoes picked up some of the smoky flavors and were so fluffy. I think we'll have to invite ourselves over for dinner again!

The grill...it definitely lived up to the hype. :)

The boys hanging out in the kitchen before dinner.

The chicken turned out so well. I wish I could eat it every week.

Luke, Ben, and Jackson had fun exchanging presents. Ben got a new bat & ball and a soccer ball.

Our Family Christmas

2010-12-31T14:57:00.002-05:00

It has taken me FOREVER to get all of my Christmas pictures uploaded. I'm going to separate them out in a few posts, so that it isn't one that goes on and on. On Wednesday, the 22rd, we celebrated Christmas at our house before we headed up to Michigan to visit our families. We had a fun morning together opening presents and having a yummy breakfast. In the evening, we were pretty busy getting everything packed and ready to go for the next morning.

Ben set out some cookies, milk, and a candy cane for Santa. He thought the reindeer might like some carrots and celery.

The presents under the tree and Ben's new table and stools.

He was excited in the morning that all of the treats he left out were gone.

Ready to open up his stocking.

Ben was thrilled to get the penguin pillow pet that he wanted from Santa.

Curt and Ben putting together one of Ben's new lego sets.

"I'm smarter than than the average bear!"

2010-12-21T13:46:00.001-05:00

We had a fun morning watching Yogi and Boo Boo in the new Yogi Bear movie. I thought it was really cute for kids and even made Curt and myself laugh a few times. Ben has been looking forward to seeing another movie at the theater. He loves to get popcorn! Thankfully, they have $1 popcorn on Tuesdays, so that it doesn't have to cost a fortune. Because we will be with our families over Christmas, we are celebrating a little early. Today is our "Christmas Eve" and tomorrow will be "Christmas" at our house. Curt was able to take a few days off of work and we LOVE having him home. :)

Vera Bradley Santa Party

2010-12-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Lutheran Health Sports Center for ice skating, bouncing on inflatables, meeting Santa, and having lots of sugary treats. It was all planned by Curt's work and I think they always do such a nice job with all their parties. Ben was so excited about it all week!

Ben has never been ice skating before and could hardly wait to try it out. I was a little nervous that we would spend most of our time falling on the ice, but we did great and somehow managed to stay upright the whole time. Curt is a good skater but I'm a little wobbly at first & it's been several years since I last skated. We both held onto one of Ben's hands and he was able to get some good practice.

After skating we headed upstairs to meet Santa and have some cookies. Ben got right up on Santa's lap and wasn't nervous at all. We ate way too many treats, then headed back down to the Bounce Mania area.

Ben had a great time on the inflatables (after an unfortunate incident in the first one.) A bigger boy pulled his sweatshirt and pinned him down. He would not let Ben get up & it really freaked Ben out. After we got him away from that boy and calmed him down, he had fun. I think he could have stayed there bouncing all day!

Ben all ready to try out the ice.

They had some girls there to help first time skaters. This young lady helped show Ben how to march his feet. After I snapped a quick picture, I took over holding him up.

Curt had to adjust his laces.

Ben and Santa.

Enjoying some treats and hot chocolate.

Climbing on the inflatables.

I was surprised at how well he did climbing the little steps.

Getting ready to crawl through a tunnel.

The Letter "H"

2010-12-19T11:06:00.001-05:00

This past week, I had lots of errands to get done before we go out of town for Christmas. Ben was on the look out for H's everywhere we went. He does such a good job spotting the uppercase & lowercase letters. We also did a few projects at home. I had some more things planned, but we ran out of time. We're going to take a letter break the next couple weeks because we'll be busy with holiday stuff & visiting our families.

Placing windows on the house.

Lowercase "h" house

Happy uppercase "H"

Ben made green hand prints and I cut them out to make a wreath. I forgot to take a picture of the wreath, but I'm sure you get the idea. :)

One of the afternoons, I made Ben a cute hamburger snack. It was made from 2 Nilla Wafers, 1 York Peppermint Patty, and 1 red Starburst (melted in the microwave). He loved it!